The Tribe
by Linger1536
Summary: Ved turned to her, his eyes searching her brown ones. "It's really up to you," he told her. "If you want to go we go." Set after season five. Ved and Cloe try to find their way back to the Mall Rats but in doing so they need to enter the now vacated city. Cloe/Ved


**Disclaimer: I don't own The Tribe.**

**This is more of an introduction chapter and therefore it will be shorter than the rest. It will be set around two to three years after season five. Cloe will be 18 and Ved 19, this might not be correct with the series bet I prefer their ages this way. **

**Please read and review to let me know what you think=) **

The young woman's eyes narrowed as she raised the gun. "I'll shoot." She crawled forward in the high grass until she was positioned behind a tree, her aim was precise.

A hand closed over hers, forcing the gun down. "The hell you will," growled an angry voice.

Brown eyes flashed with anger as the girl turned and glared at the man beside her. "What do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

He forced the gun out of her hand, hiding it in the inside pocket of his jacket. "Asking for directions."

"Are you crazy? They'll kill us as soon as they see you!"

"No, they won't," he said pointing at himself, "I look nothing like I did before."

She tilted her head to the side as she studied him. He had grown over the past two years. His body was built much more like a man's, nothing like the boyish and slightly scrawny figure he'd had. The tribal markings which had donned his face were gone replaced by dirt and grime. His once spiky blond hair was now a dark brown colour with unruly curls that had replaced the spikes. He looked nothing like she remembered him. He had also gotten rid of those horrible clothes they had insisted to wear. He was content with a pair of worn jeans and a loose shirt covered by a jacket.

"Fine," she relented.

"Give me the knife as well." He held his hand out for it and reluctantly she handed it over.

He rose from their hiding place, making sure to cause noise to alert the boys ahead of them that they were coming. The girl was not far behind him, cursing his stupidity under her breath.

"Try to keep your mouth shut when we reach them," he whispered to her, earning himself a scowl.

The people ahead of them heard them approach and quickly turned, aiming their weapons at them. The girl's shoulders stiffened and her hand twitched, itching for a weapon.

The man raised his hands in the air. "Relax," he said to the two in front of him but it was also indicated to the girl beside him. "We just want to ask for directions."

The two technos in front of them lowered their weapons, warily. The man studied them, he didn't recognise either of them. They were young, a couple of years younger than him and he supposed they had been newly recruited or in training when he had left.

"What kind of directions?" asked the younger one out of the two.

"Closest way to the city," said the girl before he had time to reply.

Both of the boys look at each other before they broke out laughing. "The city?" wheezed one. "Are you completely out of your minds?"

"Why? What's wrong with the city?"

The older boy stared at them bewildered. "You don't know?"

The man shook his head. "No, we've been away …"

"No one goes to the city. It's a ghost town," said the younger boy. He turned and pointed down into the woods. " It's a couple of miles in that direction. No one knows what will happen if you get too close to it."

The girl frowned at his words. "Why?"

"The virus of course!"

The girl glanced at her companion, exchanging a confused look. "What virus?"

Both of the boys stared at them as if they were retarded before they proceeded to explain about Mega and his creation, which had eventually brought the city down.

"You don't want to go there," advised the older boy. "Everyone fled. Some in boats, others into the forest."

"What about the Mall rats?" asked the girl, ignoring their curious eyes.

They shrugged. "Fled like the rest. They left in a boat, don't know where."

The man gave a curt nod to them before grabbing the girl's arm, heading in the direction of the city. The boys stared at them, mumbling about them being crazy but neither of them stopped the two as they made their way towards the city.

"This is just fantastic!" exclaimed the girl as she stomped her way through brushwood. "We'll never find them." She whirled around to face him. "Give me my weapons," she demanded.

He leaned against a nearby tree, studying her thoughtfully. "Calm down, Clo."

Once it would have been her who would have told him to calm down, but they had changed. He was no longer the impulsive one. Instead he calculated his moves thinking about their advantages, disadvantages and consequences. She on the other hand did not trust people. She was impulsive and acted before thinking and he had full understanding of her actions. She may infuriate him and they might butt heads often but he would always know why she behaved the way she did. She felt betrayed and she had been. He had promised her safety, assuring her that entering the game would be a joyful experience. It hadn't been. She had been tortured, both physically and mentally. When he had found her she had been in bad shape; her body once curvy and healthy had been sickly thin. The bones were protruding, her eyes were sunken in and her cheekbones were too enhanced. Her days were full of paranoia and fear of being captured while her nights were full of terror from the memory. Many nights he'd had to hold her down as she twisted and jerked around trying to get away, trying to defend herself.

"I said give them to me, Ved." Cloe approached him, holding her hand out.

Sighing Ved slammed the weapons into her hand. "There." He gazed down the hill further into the forest that was supposed to lead to the city. "If we're to find them we'll need a boat."

Cloe pushed her long braid over her shoulder as she followed Ved's gaze with her own. "Want to risk it?"

He shrugged. "I trained Mega. He liked to think he was better than he actually was."

Cloe nodded. It seemed unlikely that someone had managed to create a new virus, techno or not. It was more likely that everyone let themselves believe that there was a new virus in fear of the old one.

Ved turned to her, his grey eyes searching her brown ones. "It's really up to you," he told her. "If you want to go we go."

She had suspected that much. He would never endanger her, often it was he who kept her out of harms way despite how much she despised it. She knew he would only agree to go into the city if he truly believed there was no great threat.

"We'll go."


End file.
